Henry Kissinger said that power was the ultimate aphrodisiac but today’s politicians are fighting to find ways to stop the nation’s bulbs going out. With a new nuclear power station in the offing, Political Editor David Williamson looks at Welsh attempts to meet the 21st century energy challenge

Q: Is it okay to like nuclear energy again? I thought we were supposed to be worried about radioactive waste and terrorist strikes but I hear there is great excitement about a new facility on Anglesey .

A: There was a time when nuclear power was out of fashion but there was jubilation this week when the prospect of a new nuclear power station on Anglesey jumped closer when Hitachi took on the project to build a new facility at Wylfa.

Q: But I thought modern countries like Germany were abandoning nuclear power – and weren’t the events at the Fukusima plant last year accurately described as a disaster?

A: Do you have a better idea of how to generate not just carbon-free electricity but 7,000 jobs and 1,200 long-term high-quality positions in a region ravaged by the horrors of the recession?

Q: Is the Welsh Government jumping with excitement? I remember ministers being quite lukewarm in the past when it came to uranium-based electricity.

A: Times have changed. Business minister Edwina Hart welcomed the prospect of a bounty of jobs “for decades to come”.

She added: “Plans for the Oldbury site in South Gloucestershire will also offer huge supply chain and employment opportunities for Welsh companies.”

Q: Gosh, somebody has flicked the “on” switch as far as nuclear power is concerned?

A: Look, you may have noticed that the arctic ice has shrunk to just half the size it was in the 1980s and we could be moving into disaster movie territory if we fail to get a grip on carbon emissions.

Q: But surely we’ll we be in disaster movie territory if terrorists get a grip of one of our reactors or a jiffy bag full of deadly waste?

A: None of the options facing western civilisation is particularly palatable but there is a new push to obtain secure sources of energy at a time when electricity and gas bills push families into financial crises.

Do we want to buy climate-curdling oil from odious regimes in the Middle East or become dependent on the goodwill of Russia’s gas moguls and hope that visiting oligarchs will leave generous tips when they play a round of golf in Wales?

Q: Oil? Gas? Aren’t such energy sources the equivalent of scratchy vinyl in an age of Spotify?

A: Maybe, but gas accounts for just shy of 50% of all electricity generated in Wales.

In 2010 just 5.1% came from renewable sources. This was up from 2.9% in 2004, so we’re making progress but we’re in the slow-learners group when it comes to the renewables revolution. Take a look at Spain, where in 2010 wind power alone met 16.6% of electricity demand.

Q: You’re not suggesting you put up a windmill within five miles of my house are you?

A: If you find something jarring about a wind turbine and question the validity of the economic argument behind its construction you are not alone.

Conservative energy minister John Hayes has said “enough is enough,” arguing: “We can no longer have wind turbines imposed on communities. I can’t single-handedly build a new Jerusalem but I can protect our green and pleasant land.”

In a democracy, politicians have to take account of public anger and anxiety and some of the biggest protests at the Senedd have been sparked by plans to build wind farms in Mid Wales.

The Cambrian Mountains Society (CMS) has also powerfully campaigned to stop the Nant y Moch development which overlooks the site of “Owain Glyndwr’s famous victory over English soldiers and Flemish mercenaries in 1401”.

There are 388 operational wind farm schemes and consent has been granted for 964, with 1,069 going through the planning approval process.

Former National Assembly Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas, who is also open to the idea of a new nuclear station at the old Trawsfynydd site in Gwynedd, has been a fan of onshore wind ever since he saw a demonstration decades ago at the Centre for Alternative Technology at Machynlleth.

He considers wind a “free resource of creation” that should be used.

But Welsh Conservative MP Glyn Davies is horrified by the way the planning process works. He considers the present guidelines a blueprint for “brutal vandalism, perpetrated on my home area of Montgomeryshire”.

Q: I suppose a Bond villain would be less dangerous sitting on top of a wind turbine than twiddling the knobs of a nuclear reactor. Do we have a healthy, clean energy sector in Wales?

A: We’re in a moment of transition. In 1990 our energy industries produced 15.5m tonnes of carbon dioxide and by 2010 this had gone up to 16.1m tonnes in 2010.

Q: That’s not very good, is it?

A: Don’t despair! The Wylfa reactor should help matters, there are also plans for a 299MW biomass power plant at the former Anglesey Aluminium site and there are grand hopes for a 4.5GW offshore wind zone.

There are jobs to be gained, money to be made and patents to be struck. Already, 29,000 people work in Wales in the low carbon and renewable energy sectors and supply chains, boosting the economy by £3.8bn.

The University of Glamorgan is a brilliant beacon of excellence in the race to harness the game-changing potential of hydrogen energy. It would be utterly appropriate if our nation’s wizards solved the world’s energy problems because the original hydrogen fuel cell was invented by Welshman Sir William Robert Grove back in 1889.

Q: I’ve always wanted to play a part in a revolution. How can I join in?

A: The Welsh Government has removed planning hurdles for solar panels, a variety of heat pumps and flues for biomass heating – and you may well be able to sell energy onto a supplier.

Q: Can I drill for shale gas in my back garden?

A: That would be highly controversial. While the prospect of extracting underground gas through the use of subterranean explosions has thrilled many an American, reports of minor earthquakes and water contamination have alarmed quite a few people in Wales.

Q: Is there a real chance that a £30bn barrage could be built across the Severn estuary that would generate carbon-free power for generations?

A: Neath MP Peter Hain thinks so, and he quit his frontbench role as Shadow Welsh Secretary to push forward the project. He got a boost last week when Lord Heseltine’s report on how to ignite growth in the regions saluted the scheme’s “extraordinary” economic potential.

Q: What does the Welsh Government say on the matter?

A: “We strongly believe the Severn Estuary represents a strategically important source of renewable energy. There are significant environmental and financial challenges associated with the harnessing of this energy, but if these issues can be satisfactorily resolved, harnessing the energy will have our strong support...

“The economic benefits of a Severn Barrage are likely to be substantial. Should it go ahead, the investment will result in significant job creation and offers the potential to further support our ambition for Wales to be a world-leader in the marine energy market.”

Q: And what do environmentalists think?

A: Here’s Anne Meikle of WWF: “[We support] the development of technologies to harness the energy of the Severn Estuary’s tides, but only if this can be done in a way that safeguards the very special environment that exists in the estuary. The previous schemes for a Severn Barrage were not acceptable environmentally and while supporters of the new ‘low head’ barrage hope it will be less damaging, we currently lack sufficient information to determine to what extent that may be the case.

“We are keen to see a robust evidence-based assessment of the impact on the estuary and its wildlife of any proposal to harness Severn tidal power.”

Q: So this is an idea that’s making waves?

A: If the private sector can stump up the cash and deep concerns about wetlands are addressed, thousands of people in the construction sector might be very busy at Lavernock Point in the not too distant future.

But when ministers look out at the sea they get excited.

Wales has 1,200 of coastline and we are blessed with deep sea ports. Visionaries believe Welsh marine energy could power more than two million homes.

Let’s just hope governments at both ends of the M4 have the bright sparks and live wires with the determination and genius to light up the world.